What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy uses combined power of art making and a therapeutic relationship to meet goals for physical, mental, relational, and spiritual well-being.
Art therapy boasts extensive scope of practice, philosophies, specialties, and applications across populations, international graduate and post-graduate educational programs, and art therapy associations worldwide. Many art therapists work in private practice as well as interdisciplinary settings. These include but are not limited to schools, medical settings, rehabilitation centers, forensic settings, prisons, and museums.
For example, I am a therapist and art therapist, integrating art therapy into my talk therapy practice as I see timely and beneficial for the adults I work with in a residential setting. I also have several art therapy initiatives including weekly virtual art therapy groups, workshops, and consultation. Read more about what I do here.
Many art therapists integrate art therapy into various theoretical approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Psychoanalysis, Family Systems, Narrative therapy, and many more.
When I explain art therapy, I like to break it into two primary categories of function, which of course are not exclusive to one another, but can help with understanding.
Making the Internal External
Art making can take what exists internally, in our minds, and bring it into the physical, external world where it can be observed, appreciated, or analyzed.
When we first enter the world as children, we take things in through sensations and images. Our understanding of our environment comes in the form of symbols such as mother, food, tree, etc. This happens before we begin to put language to those symbols. As we go through life and advance in language we can begin to learn how to use language as a filter. While this is essential to communication and navigation through relationships, we can often get further and further from our personal symbols and internal images as a result of this.
The simple act of creating art requires an individual to take an internal image or concept and bring it into the physical world without the filter of words or language. This can assist in decrease in defenses.
This is where we see the development and application of many art-based assessments, often administered to reveal internal or unconscious dynamics in the safety of a therapeutic relationship for the improved care of an individual.
Making the External Internal
The second category of art therapy is its ability to translate tangible, external experiences, into repeatable and neurologically impactful internal experiences. Certain art making processes require an individual to practice or learn certain skills like creativity, focus, problem solving, and emotional regulation which can then all be internalized and applied in other settings.
For example, someone may struggle with perfectionism and be terrified of failure. While they may want to work on this, they may have ‘high-stakes’ responsibilities and cary a strong sense of duty. For this individual, they may initially translate that perfectionism to art making, fearing starting or even judging themselves harshly for what they create. The art therapist may intentionally give them difficult materials or a process where they are required to ‘fail’, therefore helping them become more comfortable with imperfection in a ‘low-stakes’ environment.
In this scenario, art therapy is not initially calming, but exposes them to a feared experience in a setting that is safe. Eventually, that person may become more comfortable with risk-taking, experimenting artistically, and end up finding art to be a space of relaxation, creativity, and freedom for them.
This process can also connect an individual to preverbal internal experiences (Wadeson, 2010). Accessing preverbal imagery through art may lead to the discovery of internal experiences or new perspectives on them.
Harriet Wadeson, in Art Psychotherapy (2010) presents several factors associated with this. One she refers to as “objectification”(Wadeson, 2010, p. 11). Due to the tangible and physical nature of the art object, a feeling or internal experience can be objectified, reflected upon, and analyzed as separate from the self, making it feel more approachable. This is related to her concept of “permanence” (Wadeson, 2010, p. 12), which refers to the advantage of art objects to not be easily changed by memory, distraction, or time the way that thoughts or conversation can. Furthermore, the image can be referenced accurately long after the artwork is created, serving as a symbol for and evidence of the hard work someone has done in therapy.
Something I especially find freeing in my personal reflective art making practice is what Harriet Wadeson refers to as the “spatial matrix”(Wadeson, 2010, p. 13). When I talk or journal, my internal world must be altered to fit into the sequential nature of language. While this can be therapeutic in its own way, I find freeing the space that imagery holds for concepts to exist simultaneously without the restriction of sequence or language structure.
What does this mean for you? It means that your mind holds memories, perspectives, insights, and experiences that are valuable and worth connecting with. Art can be a great way to accomplish this due to its ability to hold a contained space where things can be seen as they are. Maybe consider this for your next step of improved self-awareness and wellness.
Having an external experience of perceived failure followed by acceptance and lack of negative consequence can then create an internal template of experience that can be applied in other areas of life.
For this to work effectively, art processes must be designed and facilitated by a trained art therapist. This is partly because of the psychological factors of materials.
One theoretical framework used by art therapists to determine appropriate material usage is the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) developed by Kagan and Lusebrink (1978). This approach emphasizes the neurological correlates and implications the use of various materials have.
These elements are organized into four levels, the first three levels operating on a continuum of two poles. Each level represents more complex thought as well as emotional and artistic developmental level (Hinz, 2020).
The four levels are, from bottom to top, kinesthetic/sensory, perceptual/affective, cognitive/symbolic, and creative (Hinz, 2020). For example, a simple material that specifically engages senses or kinesthetic movement may be considered on the first level depending on the way it is used. Engaging an individual on this level can, in some instances, be used to increase sensitivity and connection to sensory information on the sensory pole or stimulate and discharge energy on the kinesthetic pole (Hinz, 2020).
Put simply, materials and processes that are considered kinesthetic or sensory are the lowest developmental level and are useful for engaging individuals in safe sensory experiences and assist in release of energy.
On the second level, materials or processes engaging an individual’s perception of shapes and color can be used to challenge or explore boundaries, structural awareness, and order (Hinz, 2020). Intentional engagement with emotions can be explored through the affective pole, which often is achieved through more fluid or difficult-to-control materials (Hinz, 2020).
An art making process that engages complex thought, such as one with several steps, symbolism, or metaphor, may be considered the third level (Hinz, 2020). Engaging individuals on this level may assist with the integration of complex emotions, meaning making, and containment (Hinz, 2020).
The final level, creative, is identified as the vehicle for moving among levels. Engaging in creativity within art making can then be translated to experiences outside of therapy, encouraging improvement in creative problem solving, emotional connection and regulation, critical thinking, and body awareness.
To summarize, different materials combined with the structure of the directive work together to meet specific and targeted therapeutic goals. As mentioned earlier, some art therapy directives intend to momentarily increase stress as a step in a longer process. Other processes are specifically designed to increase feelings of relaxation or calm. This is most successfully achieved through a trained art therapist, as slightly altering material, brush size, canvas size, time frame, etc. can all easily alter the experience of the individual from one of relaxation to stress.
When designed effectively, evidence shows that art making processes can have direct implications on our physical health and wellbeing. This is most notably achieved through some art’s ability to activate our parasympathetic nervous system (Martin et al. 2018).
This is characterized by feelings of relaxation and peace. Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system can be impeded in individuals with chronic pain, PTSD, or chronic stress which can manifest in part as sleep disturbances and increased inflammation. This increases risk of depression and anxiety (Won et al. 2016).
Specific art processes’ ability to activate your parasympathetic nervous system can therefore physiologically decrease physical pain, inflammation, and depression and anxiety risk.
Want to see what this wonderful world of creativity and self-discover can do for you?
Consider Working with Me!
Art as Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals
While the success of your clients is important, your mental wellbeing is essential. Consider joining or hiring me to host one of my workshops where I present contemporary neuroscience research on the use of art making and experientials designed to help you as a mental health professional.
Art as Self-Care for Christians in ministry (In-Person or Virtual)
The calling to work in ministry is rewarding and beautiful, but our hearts can get heavy and we can begin to struggle in our relationship with God.
Using a biblical and scientific foundation, I will provide education on how art can be used to heal and connect with our heavenly father.
Join me for two hours of education on how God has designed art to heal us and draw us closer to him. During this time, you will also engage in a restorative art making process that can be repeated and applied in your personal life, no art experience or skill required.
Finding Your Purpose Workshop: Using art to observe the desires of your heart
Many Christians struggle to find their purpose. Ultimately, we are created for relationship with God, but how can we add value to the world and use our gifts for the advancement of God’s kingdom?
Using art therapy methods and prayer, participants will engage in a 90 minute process where they will explore where their heart is at and bring it to God.
Art Therapy Consultation and Assessment
Are you working with a client who can’t seem to break through a barrier? Do you feel like you need more information on what’s happening internally for them? I do individual sessions with individuals, couples, and families where I use art therapy techniques to assess for deeper issues and overcome barriers in treatment.
Virtual Group Therapy
Life can move so fast that we forget to take time to invest in our emotional and mental wellbeing. This can add up and eventually wear us down. Give yourself the time you deserve and join one of my weekly virtual art therapy groups to see for yourself how art can change your life. In 60 minutes, you will engage in a guided art therapy directive designed to increase self-awareness and mental wellbeing followed by meaningful and transformative discussion with others.
Each week I will introduce a different topic to explore through art making and discussion. Example topics include: core beliefs about self and others, understanding how to embrace emotions, mindfulness, self-esteem and compassion, boundaries, stress and anxiety, or family dynamics. You will also have the opportunity to suggest and choose future topics for discussion that are meaningful to you!
If this sounds like a good fit for you, reach out to me and get your first group free.
If you want to work individually with an art therapist, check out the American Art Therapy Association directory.
Interested in becoming an art therapist? Check out this guide.
Resources
Hinz, L.D. (2020). Expressive Therapies Continuum: A Framework for Using Art in Therapy (2nd ed.)
Martin L, Oepen R, Bauer K, Nottensteiner A, Mergheim K, Gruber H, Koch SC. Creative Arts Interventions for Stress Management and Prevention-A Systematic Review. Behav Sci (Basel). 2018 Feb 22;8(2):28.
Wadeson, H. (2010). Art psychotherapy. John Wiley & Sons.
Won E, Kim YK. Stress, the Autonomic Nervous System, and the Immune-kynurenine Pathway in the Etiology of Depression. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2016;14(7):665-73.